Bloodshot Writer Calls Valiant Cinematic Universe “Not Impossible”

In spite of a critical and box office reception that failed to set the world on fire, the screenwriter behind last year’s Bloodshot doesn’t think it’s out of the question that the movie could still serve as a catalyst for a broader cinematic universe based on the comics published by Valiant Entertainment. Acknowledging that the mission gets harder since Valiant has certain properties at Sony and certain others at Paramount, Eric Heisserer still thinks something could be done to broaden the world of Bloodshot, giving fans of the film another chance to see Vin Diesel in the title role in what would be a more fully fleshed-out universe with more of what Valiant fans might expect.

The writer, who has also worked on projects like Arrival and Shadow and Bone, told The Playlist that he isn’t counting anything out yet. He does acknowledge, though, that the key to building a successful shared universe is to create individual films that people want to see more of.

“I think it got mired in a producorial divorce,” Heisserer said during a podcast interview. “Some of the properties are at Sony and some are at Paramount, and that makes for a difficult cinematic universe construction. It’s not impossible, but it makes it a little more of burdensome, and I don’t know if they know a way through with that.”

The obvious way forward might be to do something like what Marvel and Sony did when they first started flirting with the idea of making Spider-Man a bigger part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, which is to develop movies for each of the two studios and make case-by-case deals on how or whether to carry characters over from one franchise to another.

Of course, there’s an argument to be made that sometimes — whether it’s Universal’s recent attempt at reviving The Mummy or even Warner Bros.’ start-and-stop DC film universe, which started with Man of Steel and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice — the idea of a shared universe is so attractive that people can jump into it without really doing the legwork necessary to make it a commercial success.

“To try and assume you are building something that is already pre-packaged as a cinematic universe, there’s a kind of hubris that I think audiences pick up on right away,” Heisserer said. “They know you’re selling them a trailer to a bigger movie and assuming they’re going to show up. I don’t think that’s the right approach.”